Paver Installation Specifications for Pool Deck Remodel

Thin pavers are the most cost effective, permanent solution to remodel your pool deck on the market today. The reason thin pavers are a perfectly permanent solution is due to the inherent durability of the product and the fact that they are not actually adhered to the existing surface, but instead float above the deck. Any product that is adhered to a concrete surface, will end up forming a crack somewhere over time as that surface fails beneath. Cool deck, tile, paint, acrylic sprays, river rock, flagstone, or stamped concrete will all end up cracking.

The interlocking system that is utilized with a thin paver installation, in conjunction with the joint sand, produces a surface that can float on the deck beneath, all the while staying even, smooth, and crack-less!

The only areas of the deck that are adhered to the existing surface are the coping and border pavers. There has to be interior and exterior edge restraints to keep the field from moving. The first step to installing pavers on your pool deck is to secure the interior of the paver field with coping which are the bull nose pieces set around the perimeter of the pool itself. The coping pieces are cemented to the deck and grouted.

Once the coping has been installed and is secure, we actually install the paver field. The first thing we do before we lay the paver field is to prepare the existing surface. We replace any and all drains so that we no longer have mold and mildew growth. Next, we spread a small 1/8 to ¼ inch bed of sand on top of the deck. If there are low areas where water collects during hard rains, then we will float these areas and raise their elevations with this bedding sand. In addition to changing the pitch of the deck, the sand serves as a smooth surface to which the paver field will be installed upon. The interlocking pattern chosen by the homeowner will be dictated by the shapes the homeowner chooses.

When the paver field encroaches upon the last row, or border, it is time to assess how that perimeter of the deck will be secured. The border pavers will be adhered to the existing deck, if and only if that perimeter is not abutted by a fixed structure (i.e. the house, a wall, or screen enclosure). If the paver border is set against one of these fixed structures, then there’s no where the pavers can move and thus even the border can float on top of the existing deck. If we have a deck that is open air, then the perimeter pavers will be cemented down just like the coping.

The final step which ensures a tight, secure field is to wash joint sand over the newly installed pavers. This sand will fill any and all voids between each and every paver. Its only purpose is to ensure that none of the pavers move. Frequently, homeowners are concerned by the presence of sand on their deck. We remind them, however, that you need not see this join sand. Thin pavers are at least an inch in thickness and the smallest amount, say ¼ of inch of joint sand between the bricks for this type of application will keep all of the pavers in place and secure for years to come.